When I walked through the doors of the Education building at MAHEC, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had never done an employee orientation of any kind before. ‘It’ll just be an extended series of PowerPoint presentations… right?’ Well, little did I know that said presentations would have such a great impact on my future goals. The very first presentation focused on the mission, values, and structure of MAHEC and began with one phrase – Your Doctor. Your Teacher. Your Advocate. Contemplating these words over a matter of weeks struck me sufficiently enough to lead me to shred my first medical school personal statement and write something entirely new – a piece largely influenced by this simple statement. Yes, really… the root of my motivation to go to school for yet another 4 years had transformed by observing the essence of this statement first-hand every day.

My very first day of actual work began with a 2-hour discussion with Dr. Letson, my supervisor, and former Davidson Impact Fellow/new MAHEC employee, Cate Hendren. We went from Medicaid expansion to neonatal abstinence syndrome, then to the unique academic life at Davidson, off to ‘best-practice’ pun delivery techniques, back to Dr. Rishi Manchanda and upstream medicine… and back again. Needless to say, it was a relaxed and friendly conversation on the surface. But I’m sure my new colleagues could see the whirlwind behind my eyes, as though I was literally screaming, “There is so much to be done! Where could I possibly begin?!?!” Even now – three months in – narrowing my focus has not helped much in the complexity of these important problems. What has helped is meeting people who have dedicated their lifelong careers to trying. How do we end sexual assault for good? Completely eradicate the rampant spread of HIV in the Southern U.S.? Find a sustainable and effective way to close the health outcome gap between races and ethnicities? Well. You simply start by trying.

In my opinion, I am meeting the most extraordinary people this nation has to offer. A woman who goes to work to raise money for Planned Parenthood, knowing she will likely be met by an adamant pro-life protestor. A man living with HIV who leads community engagement to ensure access to medicine and frequent rapid testing to stop the cycle of transmission. A health system innovator who says that her work is informed by her deepest personal values. Almost every day, I meet a new person who inspires me to consider the breadth of what I could do as a Davidson Impact Fellow and (fingers crossed) as a future primary care physician. Instead of simply being a doctor, why not be a doctor AND teacher AND advocate each time I enter an exam room? Holding the responsibility of charting symptoms and advising treatments was never my dream job – it has always been more than that. I want to make people healthier and sustain healthy states, not merely cover-up symptoms. Most will need medications. Others will require knowledge on how to manage their chronic illness. And every patient deserves an advocate who will stand in their place in front of the legislator, the landlord, or the peer physician when their voice is being silenced.

I am exciting about my current projects and initiatives here at MAHEC and beyond as an advocate for women’s and children’s health and well-being. And I could not be more grateful that this opportunity has directly informed my future as a primary care physician.